Introduction
Dutch belongs to the family of Germanic languages, like English and German. Many of the Dutch words resemble English or German words but, of course, it is still a different language. The pronunciation is difficult for foreigners. On paper the language is easier to understand than in oral communication. Fortunately genealogical records are in writing!

Spelling
The first official spelling rules are from 1804. Later the spelling changed a few times, most recently in August 1996. Before 1804 the spelling was not fixed. It is important to look up all kind of variations, especially in names.

Occupations

Days and months
The days of the week are not very difficult to recognize: zondag, maandag, dinsdag, woensdag, donderdag, vrijdag, zaterdag. These are the months: januari, februari, maart, april, mei, juni, juli, augustus, september, oktober, november, december. In church registers of the eighteenth century and earlier, you will sometimes find the notation 7ber, 8ber and 9ber. That means September, October and November.

Numbers
In birth, marriage and death certificates the date is usually written in letters. For example vierentwintig januari achttienhonderdvijfentachtig means January, 24, 1885.

Hints
I could only list the really basic terms in this article. More extensive information is available from the Dutch Genealogical Word List at the FamilySearch Web site.

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